One of the submissions to the privilege carnival that I couldn’t use was an interview with Alison Bechdel, who you probably know from Dykes to Watch Out For. Though the interview didn’t fit in with the privilege carnival, I wanted to make you all aware of it anyway, because it’s a nice long interview and really interesting. Get the Alison Bechdel interview here.

Apparently there was some kerfuffle about same-sex ballroom dancing on So You Think You Can Dance? (this may be old news, but I only watch Dancing with the Stars so I just heard). Personally, I think same-sex dancing is sexy and fun and it’s nice for queer people to be able to do these sexy, romantic dances with the gender for whom they feel those kinds of things. It’s especially fun when you do have a partner to be able to dance with them regardless of gender. I’ve taught a lot of girls, gay and straight, to dance, because I can lead and follow, and I love doing it. Sometimes it’s fun to dance with a guy, too, especially if the particular guy is aware that dancing ≠ attraction, but in a lot of casual dancing venues, men tend to abuse the “one dance is just polite” rule and think that dancing means something more. I’ve danced in venues that are completely friendly to same-sex female couples, but I think that the dancing world should also open its doors to male couples. Artistic expression knows no gender boundaries.

Seriously, if I can get a decent job, I’ll be looking for cheap tickets. I wanted to see my friend Kate anyway, and now this exhibit at the National Portrait Gallery, a museum I intended to go to a few years ago when I was going to go to London to see the Decemberists, but ended up missing when I decided to stay hermit-ed in Ireland. The committee that chose the “gay icons” for this exhibit includes Ian McKellen, Sarah Waters, and Allan Hollinghurst. I have to flail a little.